Surfing – A Short History

Surfing was first recorded as
being means of fishermen travelling over coral reefs in to the shore in Hawaii
and Polynesia. Surfing pioneers such as Duke Kahanamoku, introduced surfing to
Australia, not for this purpose though, just for the love of the waves. Surfing
rapidly spread to everywhere in the world that waves broke.

The first unofficial Surfing
World Championship was held in 1962 and won by Midget Farrely. By the early
1980’s, sponsorship by surfing merchandise corporations elevated surfing to a
professional level.

Some people may argue that
surfing is more of an art form than a sport. With many different competitions
becoming increasingly popular at the end of the twentieth century, it was
perhaps perceived that surfing was a sport.

The extremities of the
‘surfer’s bug’ is depicted in the film ‘Point Break’, a film based on a true
story. The desire to achieve thrills in surfing results in a surfer losing his
life to the sea in a ‘once in a lifetime’ fifty-year storm. It could be argued
that this behaviour is of insanity only. However, an increasing number of
people are participating in surfing to more and more extremities, to the point
at which surfers are being taken out to the biggest waves in the world by
jet-ski because it’s not possible to surf them without.

With most groups of people who
share a specific interest of any sort, there is almost always some sort of
‘cult’ undertone attached. Surfing is of no exception and is invariably
associated with ‘cool dudes’ who think everything is ‘awesome’ and ‘rad’. This
is a widely seen stereotype and surfing continues to be seen as a very ‘cool’
activity. This view has been created over the twentieth century and
subsequently affected the cult status of surfers and their culture. For
example, the surf culture is sometimes associated with the ‘surf language. Some
people would argue that it is hard to speak to a surfer due to their ‘acquired
language’.

The influence of merchandise
companies has aided this development of ‘surf culture’. It could be argued that
surfers can be easily identified just by the clothes they wear. Companies such
as Animal, Gul, Kuta Lines, and Quiksilver all aim their products at surfers
and the ‘surf culture’. Their interaction has been increased by the sponsorship
of environmental groups such as ‘Surfers Against Sewage’, and the ‘Surfrider
Foundation’, as well as events such as ‘Newquay Surf Festival’.

In 1990, an environmental
pressure group was formed in St. Agnes, Cornwall, to campaign against dirty
beaches and unclean sea. Using their own experiences of illnesses from the
water whilst surfing, a group of surfers managed to spread their message to the
public, the UK Water Industry and the Government. Today, the group have
worldwide-sponsors such as Animal and Gul. These companies have contributed to
public awareness of the ‘Surfers Against Sewage’ and their issues,
dramatically. S.A.S. is a worldwide organisation which has over fifteen
thousand members dedicated to keeping beaches clean and to stop sewage being
pumped into the sea in the United Kingdom. They help to enforce actions for the
solutions of this problem. They are fighting for the treatment of any waste
before it is pumped into the sea.

Organisations like ‘Surfers
Against Sewage’ and the ‘Surfrider Foundation’ (an organisation with much the
same motives and support) have indeed influenced the state of beaches and seas
in the United Kingdom as well as the rest of the world. These pressure groups are
constantly increasing public awareness on these matters, and is still fighting
for the application of water quality monitoring for all recreational waters.

Surfing in the United Kingdom
has become increasingly popular during the last few decades and more people are
using it as a means of adventure travel. However, so has the desire to seek new
destinations to surf other than the United Kingdom.
Surfing
has been enjoyed for centuries upon centuries. It has played a large part in
watersports and related issues. It has led onto the birth of new sports such as
snowboarding, skate boarding, wake-boarding, wind-surfing, and body-boarding